Foresters Start Fast, Hang On for 27-17 Victory at Beloit
The Lake Forest College football team won 27-17 at Beloit College on Saturday. Senior wide receiver Kevin Davis caught five passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns while senior safety Luke Butts led the defense with 10 tackles and an interception.
It was Davis' fourth consecutive 100-yard receiving day and his second game in a row with two touchdown catches. He leads the Foresters with 42 receptions for 678 yards in five games this season. Junior wideout Austin Sobey caught three passes for 35 yards and scored his team-high eighth touchdown of the year. Junior quarterback Pete Scaffidi finished the contest with just 15 completions but they covered 247 yards and three were for touchdowns, giving him 16 scoring passes this year. He needs just five more to set a new single-season team record.
The Forester running game, led by junior tailback Al Mitchell, was also effective. Mitchell carried the ball 24 times for 107 yards and a touchdown. It was his second 100-yard rushing game in the last three weeks. Sophomore tailback Alec Howe added 35 and Scaffidi chipped in with 17 of the team's season-high 157 rushing yards on the day.
Butts recorded his 10th career interception and junior safety Aidan Price his first. Sophomore linebacker Bryce Jones recovered a fumble forced by senior defensive lineman Kenneth Clady Mason as the Foresters won tyhe turnover battle 3-0. Price was also second on the team with seven tackles and sophomore linebacker John Dillon added six.
The first three possessions of the game ended with punts and Jones' fumble recovery concluded the fourth at the Lake Forest 45-yardline. After Mitchell was tackled for a 1-yard loss, Scaffidi completed a 53-yard pass to Davis and, two plays later, a 3-yard strike to the Foresters' leading receiver in the end zone for the first score of the contest.
Davis scored again from 61 yards away on the second play of the second quarter, giving the visitors a 13-0 lead.
The Buccaneers scored on a field goal and got the ball back before committing their second costly turnover of the game. Price picked off a deep pass down the left sideline and returned it 27 yards to the Beloit 14-yardline. A play-action pass from Scaffidi to Sobey in the end zone made the score 20-3 and it remained that way until halftime.
Beloit started the third quarter with a 9-play, 58-yard touchdown drive, trimming the Forester lead to 20-10.
Mitchell started the next drive with a 13-yard run and finished it with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone to restore the Foresters' 17-point lead.
Beloit's next drive was stopped at the Lake Forest 19-yardline. The Foresters were unable to score on their next two possessions but were able to run more than 13 minutes off the clock.
The Bucs scored what truned out to be the final touchdown of the afternoon with 8:09 to play. The home team finally got the ball back with 80 seconds left but any miracle comeback aspirations they had were thwarted by Butts' interception with 31 ticks left.
Lake Forest is now 1-4 overall and in Midwest Conference play while Beloit fell to 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the league. The Foresters wore pink socks as part of the MWC's Playing for a Cure initiative, which is designed to raise awareness and funds for the fight against breast cancer. That cause will continue next Saturday when the Foresters host Monmouth College at 1:00 p.m.
